METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TEACHING A PRACTICAL SKILL TO LEARNERS AT GEOGRAPHICALLY SEPARATE LOCATIONS

• US 20080090219A1
• Filed: 10/17/2006
• Published: 04/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apollo Finance LLC
• Original Assignee: Apollo Finance LLC
• Inventors: Banks, Amy Kristine, Murdock, Kenneth A., Wilson, Ramona
• Granted Patent: US 8,435,038 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/310
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/06 with both visual and audible presentation of the material to be studied

Abstract

A method for teaching a practical skill to a plurality of learners at geographically separate locations includes receiving, for each learner, a video feed generated by a camera at the learner'"'"'s location. The video feed depicts at least an subject on which the learner is demonstrating the practical skill. The teacher simultaneously displays the video feeds for the plurality of learners on a display screen at a location of the teacher. One or more learners are allowed to submit questions to the teacher that are not immediately conveyed to the other learners. The teacher is allowed to select one of the learners having a question for individualized instruction, and to establish a private communication channel between the teacher and the selected learner.

Claims

1. A method for teaching a practical skill to a plurality of learners at geographically separate locations, comprising:

receiving, for each learner, a video feed generated by a camera at the learner'"'"'s location, the video feed depicting at least a subject on which the learner is demonstrating the practical skill;

simultaneously displaying two or more of the video feeds on a display screen at a location of the teacher;

allowing one or more learners to submit questions to the teacher that are not immediately conveyed to the other learners;

allowing the teacher to select one of the learners having a question for individualized instruction; and

establishing a private communication channel between the teacher and the selected learner.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enlarging the video feed for the selected learner as displayed at the teacher'"'"'s location.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically cycling through the display of a plurality of different video feeds in a particular location of the display screen.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the camera is movable to view different portions of the subject.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the camera has a fixed field of view, and wherein the subject is placed on a rotatable base to allow the subject to be rotated within the fixed field of view.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the practical skill comprises cosmetology.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the subject comprises a mannequin head.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the questions comprise text messages.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein allowing the teacher to select one of the learners comprises:

displaying the text messages in a text message queue; and

allowing the teacher to browse and select one of the text messages in the text message queue.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein establishing a private communication channel comprises:

allowing the teacher to send a private text message to the selected learner.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein establishing a private communication channel comprises:

allowing the teacher to establish a private audio communication channel with the selected learner.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the questions comprise audio messages.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein allowing the teacher to select one of the learners comprises:

displaying a list of the audio messages in an audio message queue; and

allowing the teacher to browse and select one of the audio messages in the audio message queue.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein establishing a private communication channel comprises:

allowing the teacher to send a private text message to the selected learner.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein establishing a private communication channel comprises:

allowing the teacher to establish a private audio communication channel with the selected learner.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to broadcast the question of the selected learner to one or more of the other learners.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to make the communication channel with the selected learner non-private to enable one or more of the other learners to receive the instruction provided by the teacher to the selected learner.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to annotate the video feed received by the selected learner.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the video feed is annotated by adding text.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the video feed is annotated by adding graphics.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to transmit the annotated video feed back to the selected learner for display on a display device at the selected learner'"'"'s location.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to transmit the annotated video feed to one or more of the other learners for display on one or more display devices at the learners'"'"' respective locations.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing a demonstration video feed depicting at least a subject on which the teacher is demonstrating the practical skill using one or more cameras at the teacher'"'"'s location; and

transmitting the demonstration video feed from the teacher'"'"'s location to one or more of the learners for display on display screens at the respective learners'"'"' locations.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to annotate the demonstration video feed.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to interactively establish communication with one or more of the learners by selecting their respective one or more video feeds from the display screen.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to store one or more of the video feeds.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to selectively transmit one or more of the stored video feeds to one or more of the learners for display on display screens at the respective learners'"'"' locations.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing a demonstration video feed depicting a location at which the practical skill is being performed by others; and

allowing the teacher to selectively transmit the demonstration video feed to one or more of the learners for display on display screens at the respective learners'"'"' locations.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to annotate the demonstration video feed.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

allowing the teacher to add a vocal commentary to the demonstration video feed.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the location at which the practical skill is being performed is a hair salon.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one question is accompanied by a still image or video clip captured by a camera at a respective learner'"'"'s location.

33. A system for teaching a practical skill to a plurality of learners at geographically separate locations, comprising:

means for receiving, for each learner, a video feed generated by a camera at the learner'"'"'s location, the video feed depicting at least a subject on which the learner is demonstrating the practical skill;

means for simultaneously displaying two or more of the video feeds for the plurality of learners on a display screen at a location of the teacher;

means for allowing one or more learners to submit questions to the teacher that are not immediately conveyed to the other learners;

means for allowing the teacher to select one of the learners having a question for individualized instruction; and

means for establishing a private communication channel between the teacher and the selected learner.

34. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for enlarging the video feed for the selected learner as displayed at the teacher'"'"'s location.

35. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for automatically cycling through the display of a plurality of different video feeds in a particular location of the display screen.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein the camera is movable to view different portions of the subject.

37. The system of claim 33, wherein the camera has a fixed field of view, and wherein the subject is placed on a rotatable base to allow the subject to be rotated within the fixed field of view.

38. The system of claim 33, wherein the practical skill comprises cosmetology.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the subject comprises a mannequin head.

40. The system of claim 33, wherein the questions comprise text messages.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the means for allowing the teacher to select one of the learners comprises means for:

means for displaying the text messages in a text message queue; and

means for allowing the teacher to browse and select one of the text messages in the text message queue.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the means for establishing a private communication channel comprises:

means for allowing the teacher to send a private text message to the selected learner.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the means for establishing a private communication channel comprises:

means for allowing the teacher to establish a private audio communication channel with the selected learner.

44. The system of claim 33, wherein the questions comprise audio messages.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the means for allowing the teacher to select one of the learners comprises:

means for displaying a list of the audio messages in an audio message queue; and

means for allowing the teacher to browse and select one of the audio messages in the audio message queue.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the means for establishing a private communication channel comprises:

means for allowing the teacher to send a private text message to the selected learner.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the means for establishing a private communication channel comprises:

means for allowing the teacher to establish a private audio communication channel with the selected learner.

48. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to broadcast the question of the selected learner to one or more of the other learners.

49. The system of claim 48, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to make the communication channel with the selected learner non-private to enable one or more of the other learners to receive the instruction provided by the teacher to the selected learner.

50. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to annotate the video feed received by the selected learner.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the video feed is annotated by adding text.

52. The system of claim 50, wherein the video feed is annotated by adding graphics.

53. The system of claim 50, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to transmit the annotated video feed back to the selected learner for display on a display device at the selected learner'"'"'s location.

54. The system of claim 50, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to transmit the annotated video feed to one or more of the other learners for display on one or more display devices at the learners'"'"' respective locations.

55. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for capturing a demonstration video feed depicting at least a subject on which the teacher is demonstrating the practical skill using one or more cameras at the teacher'"'"'s location; and

means for transmitting the demonstration video feed from the teacher'"'"'s location to one or more of the learners for display on display screens at the respective learners'"'"' locations.

56. The system of claim 55, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to annotate the demonstration video feed.

57. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to interactively establish communication with one or more of the learners by selecting their respective one or more video feeds from the display screen.

58. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to store one or more of the video feeds.

59. The system of claim 58, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to selectively transmit one or more of the stored video feeds to one or more of the learners for display on display screens at the respective learners'"'"' locations.

60. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for capturing a demonstration video feed depicting a location at which the practical skill is being performed by others; and

means for allowing the teacher to selectively transmit the demonstration video feed to one or more of the learners for display on display screens at the respective learners'"'"' locations.

61. The system of claim 60, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to annotate the demonstration video feed.

62. The system of claim 61, further comprising:

means for allowing the teacher to add a vocal commentary to the demonstration video feed.

63. The system of claim 60, wherein the location at which the practical skill is being performed is a hair salon.

64. The system of claim 33, wherein at least one question is accompanied by a still image or video clip captured by a camera at a respective learner'"'"'s location.

65. The system of claim 55, further comprising:

means for allowing a learner to pause, fast forward, and rewind the demonstration video feed.

66. The system of claim 33, further comprising:

means for tilting the rotatable base.

67. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium including:

program code for receiving, for each learner, a video feed generated by a camera at the learner'"'"'s location, the video feed depicting at least a subject on which the learner is demonstrating the practical skill;

program code for simultaneously displaying two or more of the video feeds for the plurality of learners on a display screen at a location of the teacher;

program code for allowing one or more learners to submit questions to the teacher that are not immediately conveyed to the other learners;

program code for allowing the teacher to select one of the learners having a question for individualized instruction; and

program code for establishing a private communication channel between the teacher and the selected learner.